Romanian Style Guide

for Community
 Romanian Style Guide for Community

Table of Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................. 4
Approach ........................................................................................................................ 4
Content Principles ......................................................................................................................................... 4
The Facebook Voice ....................................................................................................................................... 4
Basics .............................................................................................................................. 5
Be Brief ................................................................................................................................................................ 5
Consider Your Audience .............................................................................................................................. 5
Make it Readable ............................................................................................................................................ 6
Use Active Voice .............................................................................................................................................. 6
Style ................................................................................................................................ 6
Abbreviations ................................................................................................................................................... 6
Acronyms ........................................................................................................................................................... 8
Capitalization .................................................................................................................................................. 8
Consistency..................................................................................................................................................... 10
Contractions ................................................................................................................................................... 10
Gender ............................................................................................................................................................... 11
Numbers (includes currency, dates and times) ............................................................................... 11
Pronouns .......................................................................................................................................................... 13
Punctuation .................................................................................................................................................... 14
Spacing ............................................................................................................................................................. 15
Titles and Subtitles ...................................................................................................................................... 15
Tone .................................................................................................................................................................... 16
Other Language Conventions ................................................................................................................. 17
Foreign words .................................................................................................................................................... 17
Use of prepositions ......................................................................................................................................... 17
Localization Guidelines............................................................................................18
General Information ................................................................................................................................... 18
Product Names .................................................................................................................................................. 18
User Interface ................................................................................................................................................ 18
Buttons ................................................................................................................................................................. 18
Mobile ................................................................................................................................................................... 18
Third Party UI ..................................................................................................................................................... 19
Tokens ................................................................................................................................................................... 19

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 Romanian Style Guide for Community

References ...................................................................................................................20
Facebook References .................................................................................................................................. 20
Public References ......................................................................................................................................... 20

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 Romanian Style Guide for Community

Introduction
Created: May 2014

The purpose of this document is to provide the stylistic guidelines for community
translators who contribute to Facebook Romanian localization. The scope of this
style guide includes general Facebook content standards, Romanian language
conventions and localization specific guidelines.

Approach
Content Principles
All Facebook content should follow these 3 simple rules. This keeps people's
experience consistent, builds trust and strengthens our brand.

1. Keep It Simple Use short words and sentences, and keep the number of words
to a minimum.

2. Get to the Point Clearly explain how things work and give people enough
information to make good decisions.

3. Talk Like a Person Keep things friendly, conversational and respectful, like
you’re talking to a neighbor.

The Facebook Voice

The Facebook voice is our personality. Our tone may change in different contexts,
but we always sound like Facebook: simple, straightforward and human.

Simple:

• Stick to common words that people use in everyday speech.

• Be concise. Write short sentences that are easy to understand.

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Straightforward:

• Keep terms and messaging consistent across all channels, on and off
Facebook.
• Don't bury information or gloss over it.
• Don't use language that’s vague or possibly misleading.

Human:

• Translate like you’re talking to someone one-on-one. (Read your content

out loud if you’re not sure it sounds natural.)
• Stay neutral. Avoid language that’s opinionated, cutesy, irreverent or
otherwise over the top.
• Don't sound like a robot. Even the smallest bits of interface content should
be approachable.

Basics
Be Brief
Use as few words as possible while still being clear.

• Make sure every word has a job to do

• Replace jargon with everyday terms

Consider Your Audience

Facebook reaches people of all ages and backgrounds in nearly every country
around the world. While most websites have a target demographic, we want to
help people around the world connect each other on Facebook. This means our
audience is truly everyone.

Exceptions When translating for specific audiences (ex: advertisers, developers,

people in security checkpoints, and so on), you may need to incorporate special
terminology or adjust your tone. However, the basic standards above still apply.

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Make it Readable
Readability is a measure of how easy it is to both read words and understand
them. With an audience of diverse ages, cultures and literacy levels, readability
helps make Facebook usable and accessible.

Use Active Voice

In an active sentence, the subject of the sentence is doing something. In a passive
sentence, something is being done to the subject (making the subject passive).
English Error Example Correct Example
You deleted an activity. O activitate a fost ștearsă de tine. Ai șters o activitate.
Invalid data sent by the Au fost trimise date incorecte de Aplicația a trimis date
application. către aplicație. incorecte.

Note: Although the active voice is preferred, it should not be used at all costs.
Sometimes, the passive voice used in source phrases has to be preserved. In the
first example below, switching to active voice would generate an unnatural robot-
sounding translation in Romanian. In the second example, the doer of the action
is unknown, so again, passive voice is necessary.

English Error Example Correct Example

Group Cannot be Deleted Imposibil de șters grupul Grupul nu poate fi șters
You were added to the Ai fost adăugat în grupul {group}.
group {group}. Ai fost adăugată în grupul {group}.
Ai fost adăugat(ă) în grupul {group}.

Style
Abbreviations
An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word. Abbreviations should only be used
when necessary. Abbreviate text if space is an issue or to make the text easier to
read at a glance.

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Units of time:

• Century – secolul XX, sec. XX (use Roman numerals, abbreviate to “sec. XX”
if necessary)
• Decades – anii ’80
• Months – ian., feb., mart., apr., mai, iun., iul., aug., sept., oct., nov., dec.
• Dates – The preferred format for abbreviated dates is day, month, year,
separated by a dot: 09.01.2014
• Days – Dum, Lun, Mar, Mie, Joi, Vin, Sâm or if space is very limited - D, L, Ma,
Mi, J, V, S, D
• Hours – The 24-hour convention should be followed, using colons to
separate hours, minutes and seconds (example: 10:30, 22:30)

Other common usages:

• Examples – Use De ex.
• etc.– Always include a period with etc.
• info (no period) – Always spell out “informații” on first use unless space is
very limited.
• Facebook – Don't abbreviate Facebook.
• US - Never U.S.A. or U.S. Use ”Statele Unite” whenever possible, otherwise
use ”SUA”.
• FAQ – Although this abbreviation is common in source phrases, it should be
translated as “Întrebări frecvente”. This translation shouldn’t be abbreviated.

Other abbreviations:
English Error Example Correct Example
method metod. met.
circa cca. cca
meter m. m
quantity cantit. cant.
example exem. ex.
minim mini. min.
maxim maxi. max.
you (formal tone) dumneav. dvs.
page pagin. pag.
hours/minutes/seconds - h/min./sec. or h/m/s

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Acronyms
Acronyms are abbreviations formed using the first letters of a compound term.
URL, SMS and PC are common acronyms.

Replace acronyms with common words when such words exist and the
replacement improves text readability.

Bad Good
URL Link, adresă or adresă web
PC Computer

Note: do not replace “SMS” with “mesaj text” when “SMS” is used in source
phrases referring to messages sent via a carrier (e.g. sending an SMS from a
mobile phone registered with Orange or Vodafone).

Exceptions

Acronyms can be used when they are clear and not usually expressed with a
common word. Then:

• Define the acronym in parentheses the first time you use it (use both
English and Romanian translation).
(Application Program Interface – Interfața de programare a aplicației)
• Don’t use periods. Ex: API, not A.P.I.
• Don’t add extra information to define common acronyms, such as HTML,
CD, DVD.

In Romanian, acronym agreement is always done using the neutral form, adding a
definite or indefinite article using a hyphen.
English Error Example Correct Example
User IDs IDuri de utilizator ID-uri de utilizator

Capitalization
According to Romanian capitalization rules, capitalize only the first word of a
sentence or title. Also, unless otherwise specified, capitalize only the first word of
UI objects: options, buttons, menu items, etc.

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Don’t capitalize adjectives which refer to nationalities, names of days, months,

seasons and languages.

Don’t capitalize a word if it follows a colon in the same line.

English Error Example Correct Example
Add a Photo Adaugă o Fotografie Adaugă o fotografie
Added on Tuesday Adăugat Marți Adăugat marți
English language Limba Engleză Limba engleză
Tip: Enter a friend's name. Sfat: Introdu numele unui Sfat: introdu numele unui
prieten. prieten.

Please translate ”Internet” as ”Internet” and ”Web” as ”web”.

English Error Example Correct Example
Please check your Internet Te rugăm să verifici Te rugăm să verifici
connection. conexiunea la internet. conexiunea la Internet.
The web address you used is Adresa Web pe care ai folosit- Adresa web pe care ai
invalid o nu este validă folosit-o nu este validă

Please capitalize only the first word of Facebook features. Generally, Facebook
product names are not translated.
English Error Example Correct Example
You've already edited this in Ai editat deja acest conţinut în Ai editat deja acest conţinut
Ads Manager. Administrare Reclame. în Administrare reclame.
Instalează Messenger Instalează mesageria Instalează Messenger

Please use lowercase when translating ”Page”, ”Place” and ”Timeline”, unless they
specifically refer to Facebook features (Facebook Pages, Facebook Places,
Facebook Timeline).
English Error Example Correct Example
This feature only works Această caracteristică Această caracteristică
with Facebook Pages. funcţionează doar cu pagini funcţionează doar cu Pagini
Facebook. Facebook.
Here are the latest Iată cele mai noi statistici Iată cele mai noi statistici
insights about your despre Paginile tale Facebook. despre paginile tale Facebook.
Facebook Pages.
{name} wrote on your {name} a scris în Cronologia ta. {name} a scris în cronologia ta.
Timeline.

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Consistency
The general rule is to keep consistency in translating the same terminology with
the same concept.

All aspects regarding consistency are important:

• All UI objects should be translated consistently

• Sentence structure, tone and addressing form should all be consistent in a
given project
English Error Example Correct Example
News Feed Flux de știri Noutăți
Help Center Centrul de asistență Centrul de ajutor

Contractions
Contractions are used frequently in Romanian. To make text feel conversational,
you can use contractions even when they’re optional.

Bad Good
să îți recomande să-ți recomande

Nu îți mai place Nu-ți mai place

Exceptions

• Although adding contractions can be an improvement, too many

contractions can be detrimental to the overall feel of a translated text, so
adjust as necessary.
• Don’t use colloquial contractions, such as “ș-asta” or ”s-aveți”.
• Be careful with contractions in payment processing and account security
flows, where we’re handling sensitive information. You may need to rewrite
the sentence to adopt a more thoughtful tone and put people at ease.

Bad (too informal) Good (straightforward, respectful)

Va trebui să-ți verifici contul Te rugăm să efectuezi verificarea contului

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Gender
Online content for the desktop application is often gender specific, so use the
options available in the Translations App to create gender variations when
needed.
English Error Example Correct Example
Events you're invited Evenimente la care Evenimente la care eşti invitată
to ești invitat
Evenimente la care eşti invitat

Evenimente la care eşti invitat(ă)

{name1} was tagged in {name1} a fost {name1} a fost etichetată într-o {=photo}.
a {=photo}. etichetat într-o
{=photo}. {name1} a fost etichetat într-o {=photo}.

{name1} a fost etichetat(ă) într-o {=photo}.

Sometimes, gender variations can’t be used, because the user’s gender can’t be
determined. In these instances, try to find an alternative phrase and avoid using
the masculine singular form in your translation.
English Error Example Correct Example
Invited by {inviter} Invitat de {inviter} Invitație trimisă de {inviter}

Please pay attention to the use of the personal pronouns “them” and “they” and to
the use of the possessive adjective ”their”. These can be used to refer to people who
haven’t specified their gender in their profile, and so have an unknown gender.
English Error Example Correct Example
You requested their address Le ai cerut adresa I-ai cerut adresa
{name} said they were with {name} au spus că au fost cu {name} a spus că a fost cu
you: {sentence_fragment}. tine: {sentence_fragment} tine: {sentence_fragment}

Numbers (includes currency, dates and times)

We use numbers in text, when referring to currency, and in time stamps and dates.

On the UI usually spell out numbers one to ten and use numerals for numbers
greater than ten, but there are some exceptions.

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In News Feed stories, numerals are used automatically for numbers up to and over
ten. If the number is the first item in a sentence, use a number even for 1, in order
to emphasize that 1 person did something. On the other hand, for structures such
as “x people and one other”, don’t use the number 1.

Also, please use the number variations when applicable, in order to get a correct
translation for every number that might replace a placeholder.
English Error Example Correct Example
{friend_count} friends {friend_count} prieten a fost aici
have been here {friend_count} prieteni au fost aici

{friend_count} de prieteni au fost aici

1 friend has been here Un prieten a fost aici 1 prieten a fost aici
You and one other Tu și încă 1 persoană Tu și încă o persoană ați cumpărat
purchased this. ați cumpărat asta. asta.

Please use a dot (not a comma) to separate groups of 3 digits and apply this rule
for numbers greater than 10.000.

• 10
• 100
• 1000
• 10.000
• 100.000
• 1.000.000

Currency

Use the numerical form:

• Game: 10 credite, în valoare de 10 USD

• Ledger/payment flow: 1 USD

Some currency amounts are fixed USD prices, while some can be localized to the
correspondent equivalent.

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Currency symbols should follow the amount. Please always separate the amount
and the symbol by a non-breaking space.
English Error Example Correct Example
$100 100LEI 100 LEI

Time stamps and dates

Use the numerical form and write the numbers as compactly as possible. Use the
Romanian date formats according to context. Use the 24 hour clock format.

• Acum 5 minute
• 9 ianuarie la 21:16

Exceptions

Spell out one in text, except when telling time (ex: ora 1), presenting a series (ex: 1-7)
or providing a time stamp (ex: acum 1 săptămână).

If you need to mention currency or time alongside another type of number, spell
out the other number to make the currency or time more prominent (ex: cumpără
două oferte și economisește 20 de lei). This is a rare case.

Pronouns
As a general rule in Romanian language, pronouns tend to be omitted in
translation since they decrease readability.

Avoid possessive adjectives, since they are used more frequently in English than
in Romanian.

As mentioned before, please note that when a user’s gender is unknown (it’s not
set on the user’s profile), the personal pronouns “they” and “them” and the
possessive adjective "their" are used. Try to avoid using the singular masculine
form when translating.

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English Error Example Correct Example

Add photos to your post Adaugă fotografii la postarea ta
{=Tip:} When chat is off, {=Tip:} când chatul este oprit,
messages from friends go mesajele de la prietenii tăi sunt
to your inbox for you to trimise în Inbox-ul tău, astfel
read later. încât să le poţi citi mai târziu.
{name1} commented on {name1} a adăugat un
your video on their Wall. comentariu la clipul video
postat de tine pe Peretele lui.
Adaugă fotografii la postare
{=Tip:} când chatul este
oprit, mesajele de la prietenii
tăi sunt trimise în Inbox,
astfel încât să le poţi citi mai
târziu.
{name1} a adăugat un
comentariu la clipul video
postat de tine pe Peretele
său.

Punctuation
Please follow the standard punctuation rules.

Period

Periods should be followed by only one space. Do not add periods at the end of
titles, links or descriptions, unless these are made up by more than one sentence.

When working on UI strings, please don’t add a period at the end of a string if
there’s no period in the source string. Periods are sometimes added automatically
when the string is displayed.
English Error Example Correct Example
{name1} commented on a {name1} a adăugat un {name1} a adăugat un
{=photo} she shared comentariu la o {=photo} pe comentariu la o {=photo} pe
care a distribuit-o. care a distribuit-o

Comma

Make sure commas are not used before coordinative conjuctions, unless their use
is necessary (for example, when coordinative conjuctions follow an apposition).
English Error Example Correct Example
{name 1}, {name 2}, {name {name 1}, {name 2}, {name 3}, {name 1}, {name 2}, {name 3}
3}, and {count} others și alți {count} și alți {count}
Onavo, a mobile app, and Facebook a cumpărat Onavo, Facebook a cumpărat Onavo,
many other applications o aplicație pentru mobil și o aplicație pentru mobil, și
were bought by Facebook. multe alte aplicații. multe alte aplicații.

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Em dash

The em dash is not frequently used in Romanian and it should generally be

replaced with commas, colons or brackets.

Quotes

Please use quotation marks according to Romanian standards („quote”). Place the
period outside the last quotation mark. However, if quotation marks are used for a
whole sentence, the period should be placed before the last quotation mark.

Ampersand

Replace "&" with "sau", unless it is part of a company name or a registered

trademark.

Slashes

Slashes are not common in Romanian, so please replace them with the
conjunction "sau". Use slashes for UI objects when space is limited.

Spacing
Please make sure you respect Romanian spacing rules. Don’t add spaces after an
opening parenthesis or before a closing one and don’t use double/triple space.
English Error Example Correct Example
Why did you decide not to De ce te-ai hotărât să nu De ce te-ai hotărât să nu
post? (Please select all that postezi? ( Te rugăm să postezi? (Te rugăm să
apply) selectezi toate variantele selectezi toate variantele
valabile. ) valabile.)

Titles and Subtitles

Titles and subtitles help you organize information, introduce ideas and highlight
key concepts.

Interface content

Dialogs and pop-ups usually have just one title and subtitle.

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When translating dialogs, pop-ups, buttons and other prompts in the UI, in order
to have friendlier tone, please use a personal form instead of an impersonal one.
English Error Example Correct Example
BUTTON: Delete Post Ştergere postare Șterge postarea
TITLE: Status Is Empty Stare necompletată Nu ai scris nimic
TITLE: Add a Photo Adăugare fotografie Adaugă o fotografie

Titles

Use title case according to Romanian rules. Capitalize only the first word in a title.
English Error Example Correct Example
How Tagging Works Cum Funcționează Etichetarea Cum funcționează etichetarea

Subtitles

As with titles, capitalize only the first word and use lowercase for the rest, unless
proper nouns are used (for example, Mark Zuckerberg).

Tone
The tone used for Facebook translations should generally be friendly,
straightforward and simple.

In general, the form of address should be the second person singular.

On the other hand a more formal tone is preferred for Legal content. That’s why the
form of address should be the second person plural when dealing with Legal content,
such as Terms and Conditions or The Statement of Rights and Responsibilities.
English Error Example Correct Example
LEGAL: You will not bully, Nu vei agresa, nu vei intimida Nu veți agresa, nu veți
intimidate, or harass any și nu vei hărțui niciun intimida și nu veți hărțui
user. utilizator. niciun utilizator.

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Other Language Conventions

Foreign words
If you need to use a plural form or add a definite article to a foreign word, please
use a hyphen if the word ends in a vowel. Don’t use a hyphen if the word ends in a
consonant.
English Error Example Correct Example
New! Drag Photos Into Your Nou! Trage fotografii cu Nou! Trage fotografii cu
Post mouseul în postare mouse-ul în postare
Open Link Deschide link-ul Deschide linkul

Always use a hyphen for plural forms of acronyms.

English Error Example Correct Example
Account IDs IDuri de cont ID-uri de cont
Most Shared URLs Cele mai distribuite URLuri Cele mai distribuite URL-uri

Use of prepositions
When translating phrases that involve the verb “to add”, e.g. “to add (something)
to (an object)”, the preposition “la” should be used when the object itself doesn’t
change as a result of the adding action, and the preposition “în” should be used
when the object itself does change as a result of the adding action. Please see the
examples below.
English Error Example Correct Example
Add to Timeline Adăugare la cronologie Adăugare în cronologie
Add to profile Adăugare la profil Adăugare în profil
Add to shopping cart Adăugare la coşul de Adăugare în coşul de
cumpărături cumpărături
Add (a comment) to a photo Adăugare (a unui comentariu) Adăugare (a unui
într-o fotografie comentariu) la o fotografie
Note: the photo itself
doesn’t change as a result of
adding a comment to it.

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Localization Guidelines
General Information

Product Names
Product and feature names should be consistently translated. Some product and
feature names are translated and others are used in English based on strategic
decisions. For example, “Messenger” was translated in many languages, but now
changed back to English in all languages.
English Error Example Correct Example
Install Power Editor Instalează Editor complex Instalează Power Editor
Sent from Messenger Trimis din Mesagerie Trimis de pe Messenger

User Interface

Buttons
Buttons are one of the main ways people take action on Facebook, so they should
be clear, active and specific. Use the imperative instead of the long infinitive.
English Error Example Correct Example
Use Activity Log Utilizare Jurnal de activități Folosește Jurnalul de activități
Cancel Revocare Renunță
Undo Anulare Anulează

Mobile
Mobile UI localization has more space constraint than regular UI localization.
Mobile strings sometimes come with specific description about the allowed
number of characters. It is important to keep translation within this limit in order
to avoid any truncation issues, e.g.: in SMS-related translations.

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Third Party UI
If you encounter third party UI terms, please check if they were localized. For
example, please check the existing translations on iPhone if they refer to iPhone UIs.

Tokens
UIs often include tokens which are a portion of full sentences and represent the
“bricks” of what will be seen by the users. Note that text in { } are placeholders and
replaced by either a variable or another string. For example, {name} is replaced by
a user name and {count} is replaced by a number. If the placeholder contains the =
sign right after the opening bracket, it means that it will be replaced by exactly
the same text that it contains.

Example:

{user} edited his {=changed relationship status} that you followed.

The {user} token will be replaced by the name of the user, while the {=changed
relationship status} token will be replaced exactly by the words “changed
relationship status”, and this will look like “Jane edited her changed relationship
status that you followed”.

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References
Facebook References
• Glossary in Admin Panel

Public References
These are a few of the generally recommended public references.

• DEX - Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române, ediția a II-a revăzută și adăugită,

Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan”, Editura Univers
Enciclopedic Gold, 2012
• DOOM 2 - Dictionarul ortografic, ortoepic si morfologic al limbii romane, editia
a II-a, Editura Univers Enciclopedic Gold, 2010
• Gramatica limbii române, Academia Română, vol I-II, Editura Academiei
Române
• www.dexonline.ro, the most popular Romanian Dictionary collection
online
• Microsoft Language Portal (https://www.microsoft.com/Language/
ro-ro/Default.aspx), for general IT terminology

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